Media Playback Processing and Control Method, Apparatus, and System

ABSTRACT

A media playback processing and control method, apparatus, and system are provided. The processing method includes: receiving, by a central server, a query request of a control device, and returning a query response to the control device according to a resource information table; receiving a resource request of a selected display device selected by the control device; and querying the resource information table, determining that a selected media resource corresponding to information about a selected storage path is stored on a first media server (MS), and determining a second MS with a conversion capability to convert a media format of the selected media resource into a media format supported by a playback capability of the selected display device, so as to enable the selected display device to play a media resource converted by the second MS from the selected media resource.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2013/071113, filed on Jan. 30, 2013, which claims priority toChinese Patent Application No. 201210026138.X, filed on Feb. 7, 2012,both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of networktechnologies, and in particular, to a media playback processing andcontrol method, apparatus, and system.

BACKGROUND

With development of digital home and widespread digitalization ofconsumer electronics (CE), an increasing number of digital entertainmentdevices and home appliances appear in a family. To form a home areanetwork by connecting, in a wired or wireless manner, home area networkdevices such as the entertainment devices and home appliances, so as toimplement functions of content sharing, mutual control, and the like, isa digital home area network concept that the industry is conceiving andstriving to achieve.

To implement interworking and control among different types of homedevices, an increasing number of home area network devices supportuniversal plug and play (UPnP). Further, to implement a media sharingscenario among a plurality of devices on a home area network, the UPnPdefines an audio and video (AV) standard. This standard defines threetypes of entities on the home area network: a media server (MS), adevice for storing a media resource; a media renderer (MR), a device forplaying the media resource; and an AV control point (CP), an entity forcontrolling the foregoing two devices. An AV CP browses the mediaresource of the MS, and then the MR plays the media. In this way, afunction that the MR plays the media resource of the MS is implemented.

During a process of implementing the present invention, the inventorsfind that an existing solution only relates to a home area network thatincludes a single MS and a single MR, and a media resource on the MScannot be played when a format of the media resource cannot be played inthe MR, and the MS is incapable of converting the format of the mediaresource into a format that can be played by the MR.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a media playback processingand control method, apparatus, and system, to resolve a problem in theprior art that the prior art relates only to a home area network thatincludes a single MS and a single MR, and a media resource on the MScannot be played when a format of the media resource cannot be played inthe MR, and the MS is incapable of converting the format of the mediaresource into a format that can be played by the MR.

According to one aspect, an embodiment of the present invention providesa media playback processing method, including: receiving, by a centralserver, a query request of a control device, and returning a queryresponse to the control device according to a pre-generated resourceinformation table, where the query response includes a storage path ofat least one media resource; receiving a resource request of a selecteddisplay device selected by the control device, where the resourcerequest includes information about a selected storage path; and queryingthe resource information table, determining that a selected mediaresource corresponding to the information about the selected storagepath is stored on a first media server, and determining a second mediaserver with a conversion capability to convert a media format of theselected media resource into a media format supported by a playbackcapability of the selected display device, so as to enable the selecteddisplay device to play a media resource converted by the second mediaserver from the selected media resource.

According to another aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a media playback processing method, including: receiving, by acentral server, a query request of a control device; and returning aquery response to the control device according to a pre-generatedresource information table, where the query response includes a storagepath of at least one media resource and an identifier of an optionaldisplay device, and a playback capability of the optional display devicesupports a media format of the media resource, so as to enable thecontrol device to select one media resource and one optional displaydevice of the media resource to play the media resource.

According to another aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a media playback control method, including: determining, by acontrol device, a query condition, and sending a query request thatincludes the query condition to a central server; receiving a queryresponse returned by the central server, and determining a selectedcontent name as well as an identifier of a selected display deviceaccording to a selection instruction, where the query response includesa storage path of at least one media resource and an identifier of anoptional display device, and the storage path points to one of at leastone media server that includes the central server; determining, from thestorage path of the at least one media resource, a selected storage pathcorresponding to the selected content name as well as the identifier ofthe selected display device, where the selected storage path includesthe selected content name, and sending the selected storage path to theselected display device; and sending a playback request to the selecteddisplay device, so as to enable the selected display device to acquire amedia resource from the at least one media server according to theselected storage path and play the media resource.

According to another aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a central server, including: a first interface configured toreceive a query request of a control device and return a query responseto the control device according to a pre-generated resource informationtable, where the query response includes a storage path of at least onemedia resource; a second interface configured to receive a resourcerequest of a selected display device selected by the control device,where the resource request includes information about a selected storagepath; and a querying module configured to query the resource informationtable, determine that a selected media resource corresponding to theinformation about the selected storage path is stored on a first mediaserver, and determine a second media server with a conversion capabilityto convert a media format of the selected media resource into a mediaformat supported by a playback capability of the selected displaydevice, so as to enable the selected display device to play a mediaresource converted by the second media server from the selected mediaresource.

According to another aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a central server, including: a receiving module configured toreceive a query request of a control device; and a sending moduleconfigured to return a query response to the control device according toa pre-generated resource information table, where the query responseincludes a storage path of at least one media resource and an identifierof an optional display device, and a playback capability of the optionaldisplay device supports a media format of the media resource, so as toenable the control device to select one media resource and one optionaldisplay device of the media resource to play the media resource.

According to still another aspect, an embodiment of the presentinvention provides a control device, including: a determining moduleconfigured to determine a query condition and send a query request thatincludes the query condition to a central server; a processing moduleconfigured to receive a query response returned by the central server,and determine a selected content name as well as an identifier of aselected display device according to a selection instruction, where thequery response includes a storage path of at least one media resourceand an identifier of an optional display device, and the storage pathpoints to one of at least one media server that includes the centralserver; a selecting module configured to determine, from the storagepath of the at least one media resource, a selected storage pathcorresponding to the selected content name as well as the identifier ofthe selected display device, where the selected storage path includesthe selected content name, and send the selected storage path to theselected display device; and a playing module configured to send aplayback request to the selected display device, so as to enable theselected display device to acquire a media resource from the at leastone media server according to the selected storage path and play themedia resource.

According to still another aspect, an embodiment of the presentinvention further provides a media playback processing and controlsystem, including: a control device, at least one display device, and atleast one media server, where a media server in the at least one mediaserver is the central server described above.

At least one technical solution of the plurality of technical solutionsabove has the following advantages or beneficial effects.

The embodiments of the present invention adopts the following technicalmeans: setting a central server, where the central server returns aquery response to a control device according to a pre-generated resourceinformation table, queries the resource information table according to aresource request of a selected display device, determines that aselected media resource corresponding to information about a selectedstorage path in the resource request is stored on a first media server,and determines a second media server with a conversion capability toconvert a media format of the selected media resource into a mediaformat supported by a playback capability of the selected displaydevice, so as to enable the selected display device to play a mediaresource converted by the second media server from the selected mediaresource. This technical means overcomes a deficiency in the prior artthat, on a home area network that includes a single MS and a single MR,when a format of a media resource on the MS cannot be played on the MR,and the MS is not capable of converting the format of the media resourceinto a format that can be played by the MR, the media resource cannot beplayed; and provides a set of solutions with a plurality of MSs that maycoordinate media resources and conversion capabilities of the pluralityof MSs, so as to adapt to the playback capability of the selecteddisplay device, thereby greatly enhancing user experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention more clearly, the following briefly introduces theaccompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments. Theaccompanying drawings in the following description show some embodimentsof the present invention, and a person of ordinary skill in the art maystill derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings withoutcreative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a media playback processing methodaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a media playback processing methodaccording to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a media playback control methodaccording to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are a schematic signaling diagram of a firstapplication scenario according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are a schematic signaling diagram of a secondapplication scenario according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B are a schematic signaling diagram of a thirdapplication scenario according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a central server accordingto Embodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a central server accordingto Embodiment 5 of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a control device accordingto Embodiment 6 of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a media playback processingand control system according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of theembodiments of the present invention clearer, the following clearlydescribes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodimentsof the present invention. The described embodiments are a part ratherthan all of the embodiments of the present invention. All otherembodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based onthe embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shallfall within the protection scope of the present invention.

To give a clear and detailed description of the embodiments of thepresent invention, relevant information of UPnP is introduced firstly.In a UPnP system, a user may control a home area network device by usinga CP on the home area network; by invoking a related control command(action) of the UPnP device, the CP uses a UPnP protocol to read statusinformation of a UPnP device on the home area network and control theUPnP device so as to perform corresponding operations.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a media playback processing methodaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1,the method includes the following steps:

Step 101. A central server receives a query request of a control deviceand returns a query response to the control device according to apre-generated resource information table, where the query responseincludes a storage path of at least one media resource.

The central server herein may also serves as a media server; theresource information table may be generated according to media contentinformation and conversion capability information of the media server aswell as playback capability information of a display device on a homearea network. It should be noted that there may be a plurality of mediaservers and at least one display device on the home area network towhich an embodiment of the present invention is applied. In addition,the central server and the control device may be independently set, orbe set as a whole.

Step 102. Receive a resource request of a selected display deviceselected by the control device, where the resource request includesinformation about a selected storage path.

The selected display device herein may be selected by a user by usingthe control device, or automatically selected by the control device. Theselected storage path is determined by the control device according to aselection instruction of the user or automatically determined from thestorage path of the at least one media resource, where the storage pathis included in the query response, and the selected storage path is sentto the selected display device. The information about the selectedstorage path may be the selected storage path itself, or a part of theinformation about the selected storage path. Generally, the storage pathincludes a host part and a path part, where the host part may be a hostname or a host Internet Protocol (IP) address, and the path part may bea relative path on the host. For example, if the selected storage pathis a universal resource identifier (URI) of an absolute path, theinformation about the selected storage path may be the URI of theabsolute path, and may also be a path part in the URI of the absolutepath, that is, a URI of a relative path. Generally, the resource requestmay also carry an identifier of the selected display device. Because instep 102, it is the central server that receives the resource request,in other words, the selected storage path in the resource request pointsto the central server. For example, if the selected storage path is aURI of one absolute path, the host part of the selected storage path isan address of the central server. If the selected storage path in theresource request sent by the selected display device points to anothermedia server, the another media server may process the resource requestaccording to a method in the prior art.

Step 103. Query the resource information table, determine that aselected media resource corresponding to the information about theselected storage path is stored on a first media server, and determine asecond media server with a conversion capability to convert a mediaformat of the selected media resource into a media format supported by aplayback capability of the selected display device, so as to enable theselected display device to play a media resource converted by the secondmedia server from the selected media resource.

Both the first media server and second media server herein may be anymedia server each, including the central server. For example, theplayback capability of the selected display device only supportsplayback of a media resource in an Moving Pictures Expert Group 2(MPEG2) format or a Windows Media Video (WMV) format; the selected mediaresource is stored on the first media server, and a media format of theselected media resource is Moving Pictures Expert Group 4 (MPEG4); thesecond media server has a conversion capability to convert the mediaresource from the MPEG4 format to the MPEG2 format or the WMV format.

Specifically, in step 103, after the determining that a selected mediaresource corresponding to the information about the selected storagepath is stored on a first media server, and determining a second mediaserver with a conversion capability to convert a media format of theselected media resource into a media format supported by a playbackcapability of the selected display device, the method further includes:

If the central server is not the second media server, the central serverinstructs the second media server to acquire the selected media resourcefrom the first media server, so as to enable the second media server toconvert the selected media resource and return a selected media resourceafter conversion to the central server, and the central server sends theselected media resource after conversion to the selected display device.Alternatively, the central server may further instruct the first mediaserver to actively push the selected media resource to the second mediaserver, so as to enable the second media server to convert the selectedmedia resource.

If the central server is not the second media server, the central serverredirects the resource request to the second media server, so as toenable the second media server to acquire the selected media resourcefrom the first media server, convert the selected media resource, obtainthe selected media resource after conversion, and directly send theselected media resource after conversion to the selected display device.

If the central server is the second media server, the central serveracquires the selected media resource from the first media server,converts the selected media resource to obtain the selected mediaresource after conversion, and sends the selected media resource afterconversion to the selected display device.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, before step 101, themethod further includes: acquiring, by the central server, playbackcapability information of at least one display device that includes theselected display device as well as media content information andconversion capability information of a plurality of media servers thatincludes the central server, the first media server, and the secondmedia server; and generating the resource information table according tothe playback capability information of the at least one display deviceas well as the media content information and the conversion capabilityinformation of the plurality of media servers, where the resourceinformation table includes a resource identifier, a media format, and astorage path of at least one media resource.

In another optional embodiment of the present invention, the resourceinformation table includes an original resource entry and a convertedresource entry, and the generating the resource information tableaccording to the playback capability information of the at least onedisplay device as well as the media content information and theconversion capability information of the plurality of media serversspecifically includes: determining a playback capability intersectionset according to the playback capability information of the at least onedisplay device, where a playback capability of each display devicesupports at least one media format in the playback capabilityintersection set; determining an original media resource according tothe media content information of the plurality of media servers, andgenerating the original resource entry, where the original resourceentry includes an original identifier as well as a resource identifier,a media format, and a storage path of the original media resource, andthe storage path of the original media resource points to a media serverthat stores the original media resource; and determining a convertedmedia resource corresponding to the original media resource according toa media format that is in the playback capability intersection set andis different from the media format of the original media resource,generating the converted resource entry corresponding to the originalresource entry, where the converted resource entry includes a conversionidentifier as well as a resource identifier, a media format, and astorage path of the converted media resource, and establishing acorrespondence between the converted resource entry and a media serverwith a conversion capability to convert the media format of the originalmedia resource into the media format of the converted media resource,where the media format of the converted media resource is different fromthe media format of the corresponding original media resource, and themedia format of the converted media resource is in the playbackcapability intersection set.

Specifically, the playback capability information of the display deviceincludes a media format supported by the playback capability of thedisplay device. Correspondingly, the playback capability of the displaydevice supports a media format, which indicates that the display deviceis capable of playing a media resource in this media format. Inaddition, the storage path in the converted resource entry may point toa virtual address on the central server.

The playback capability intersection set includes at least one mediaformat, and it is better to include fewer media formats. For example, anMR 1 supports media formats MPEG4 and MPEG2; an MR 2 supports mediaformats MPEG2, Audio Video Interleave (AVI), and WMV; an MR 3 supportsmedia formats WMV, Advanced Video Coding (AVC), and H.264; then aplayback capability intersection set of the MR 1, 2, and 3 is {MPEG2,WMV}. Further, the playback capability information of the display devicemay further include a resolution and a transport protocol supported bythe playback capability of the display device; correspondingly, thedisplay capability intersection set may further include the resolutionand the transport protocol. In addition, when whether the display deviceis capable of playing a media resource is determined, it is necessary todetermine whether the playback capability of the display device supportsthe resolution and the transport protocol of the media resource. Whenthe resolution and the transport protocol are further considered, it isassumed that playback capability information of the MR 1, 2, and 3 isshown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Display Supported media Supported Supported device formatresolution transport protocol MR 1 MPEG4, MPEG2 1080p, 720p HTTP,RTP/RTSP MR 2 MPEG2, AVI, WMV 720p, 480 HTTP MR 3 WMV, AVC, H.264 720p,240 HTTP

According to Table 1, the playback capability intersection set of the MR1, 2 and 3 includes the media formats MPEG2, MPEG4, a resolution 720p,and a transport protocol hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). If samemedia content has two media resources separately corresponding to theplayback capability intersection set, that is a media resource whosemedia format is MPEG2, resolution is 720 progressive scan (p), andtransport protocol is HTTP and a media resource whose media format isMPEG4, resolution is 720p, and transport protocol is HTTP, the mediacontent may be played on any display device.

Meanwhile, for any media resource, the media resource has only one mediaformat. If the playback capability intersection set also only includesthis media format, the media resource may be played on any displaydevice; if this media format is not included in the playback capabilityintersection set, a converted resource corresponding to the mediaresource may further be determined to generate a converted resourceentry. Specifically, the determining a converted media resourcecorresponding to the original media resource according to a media formatthat is in the playback capability intersection set and is differentfrom the media format of the original media resource, and generating aconverted resource entry corresponding to the original resource entryspecifically includes: if the playback capability intersection setincludes N media formats and the media format of the original mediaresource is not in the playback capability intersection set, where N isa natural number that is not less than 2, determine N converted mediaresources corresponding to the original media resource according to theconversion capability information and the original media resource, andgenerate N converted resource entries, where the N converted resourceentries separately include the N media formats; if the playbackcapability intersection set includes N media formats and the mediaformat of the original media resource is in the playback capabilityintersection set, where N is a natural number that is not less than 2,determine (N−1) converted media resources corresponding to the originalmedia resource according to the conversion capability information andthe original media resource, and generate (N−1) converted resourceentries, where the (N−1) converted resource entries separately includeall media formats except the media format of the original media resourcein the N media formats.

For example, the playback capability intersection set includes MPEG2 andMPEG4. If a media format of an original media resource 1 is WMV, twoconverted media resources corresponding to the original media resource 1are determined and two converted resource entries are generated, wheremedia formats in the two converted resource entries respectively areMPEG2, MPEG4; if the media format of the original media resource 1 isMPEG2, one converted media resource corresponding to the original mediaresource 1 is determined, and a converted resource entry is generated,where a media format in the one converted resource entry is MPEG4. Itshould be noted that a correspondence between the original resourceentry of the original media resource and the converted resource entry ofthe converted media resource corresponding to the original mediaresource may be established by setting a same identifier, and may alsobe established according to positions of the original resource entry andthe converted resource entry in the resource information table.

Further, after the second media converts the selected media resource,the method may further include: downloading, by the first media server,the selected media resource after conversion; and updating, by thecentral server, the resource information table according to the selectedmedia resource after conversion.

Specifically, if the first media server is the central server, thecentral server downloads the selected media resource after conversionfrom the second media server. If the first media server is not thecentral server, the central server instructs the first media server todownload the selected media resource after conversion from the centralserver or the second media server; alternatively, the central server mayalso directly push the selected media resource after conversion to thefirst media server, or instructs the second media server to push theselected media resource after conversion to the first media server.

The updating, by the central server, the resource information tableaccording to the selected media resource after conversion specificallyincludes: setting, by the central server, the selected media resourceafter conversion to be the original media resource, and updating theoriginal resource entry and the converted resource entry.

Specifically, the converted resource entry corresponding to a previouslygenerated selected media resource (that is, the converted mediaresource) may be deleted and an original resource entry corresponding tothe selected media resource after conversion may be added.

Further, based on the foregoing resource information table formed by theoriginal resource entry and the converted resource entry, in step 101,before the returning a query response to the control device according toa pre-generated resource information table, the method may furtherinclude: querying, by the central server, the resource information tableaccording to a query condition included in the query request;determining an original resource entry that meets the query condition,and adding a corresponding original resource response entry to the queryresponse, where the original resource response entry includes theoriginal identifier and the storage path of the original media resourcethat are in the original resource entry; and determining a convertedresource entry that meets the query condition, and adding acorresponding converted resource response entry to the query response,where the converted resource response entry includes the conversionidentifier and the storage path of the converted media resource that arein the converted resource entry.

Specifically, a storage path of each media resource includes a contentname of the media resource; the control device may determine acorresponding content name according to the storage path in the queryresponse and display the content name to a user. For example, a storagepath in a converted resource entry corresponding to a converted mediaresource 1 ishttp://192.168.1.1:53013/MediaServerContent_(—)1/1/LetBulletsFly.wmv,where, 192.168.1.1 is an address of the central server, and“LetBulletsFly” is a content name of the converted media resource.

Further, when the selected display device adds the information about theselected storage path to the resource request to request the mediaresource from the central server, the central server may determine anoriginal resource entry/a converted resource entry corresponding to theselected media resource according to the information about the selectedstorage path. Specifically, in step 103, the querying the resourceinformation table specifically includes: finding a converted resourceentry that includes the selected storage path according to theinformation about the selected storage path in the resource request; anddetermining an original resource entry corresponding to the convertedresource entry that includes the selected storage path, determining afirst media server to which a storage path in the corresponding originalresource entry points, and determining a second media servercorresponding to the converted resource entry that includes the selectedstorage path.

For example, when the information about the selected storage path is aURI of an absolute path, the central server may directly retrieve theresource information table according to the URI of the absolute path,and find an original media resource entry/a converted media resourceentry that includes the URI of the absolute path; when the informationabout the selected storage path is a URI of a relative path, the centralserver may construct the URI of the absolute path according to the URIof the relative path and the address of the central server, thenretrieve the resource information table according to the URI of theabsolute path, and search for the original/converted media resourceentry that includes the URI of the absolute path. Generally, before theselected display device adds the information about the selected storagepath to the resource request to request the media resource from thecentral server, the selected display device may further establish aconnection with a central server to which the selected storage pathpoints according to the selected storage path. For example, the selecteddisplay device determines the address of the central server according toa host part in the URI of the absolute path, so as to establish an HTTPconnection.

In a practical application, there are three cases in which the selecteddisplay device requests the media resource from the central server:

(1) The selected storage path is corresponding to the original mediaresource. In this case, there is the original resource entry thatincludes the selected storage path. In addition, because the storagepath in the original resource entry is an actual storage path of theoriginal media resource, the central server may determine that aselected media resource that is requested is a locally stored originalmedia resource and may directly send the selected media resource that islocally stored to the selected display device.

(2) The selected storage path is corresponding to the converted mediaresource, and the central server has a corresponding conversioncapability. In this case, there is the converted resource entry thatincludes the selected storage path; the central server may determine acorresponding storage path of the original media resource according toan original resource entry corresponding to the converted resourceentry, so as to acquire the corresponding original media resource andsend an original media resource after conversion to the selected displaydevice.

(3) The selected storage path is corresponding to the converted mediaresource, and the central server does not have the correspondingconversion capability. In this case, although the selected storage pathpoints to the central server, the selected storage path points to thevirtual address on the central server. The central server determines anoriginal resource entry and a media server corresponding to theconverted resource entry that includes the selected storage path; andthe central server instructs the corresponding media server to convertan actual media resource stored in the storage path in the correspondingoriginal resource entry and sends an actual media resource afterconversion to the selected display device.

In another optional embodiment of the present invention, the queryresponse returned by the central server may further carry a media formatof the at least one media resource; the control device may acquire theplayback capability information of each display device and recommend aproper display device to the user according to a media format of eachmedia resource in the query response.

In still another optional embodiment of the present invention, thecentral server may further determine, according to playback capabilityinformation of an acquired display device, an optional display device ofeach media resource, that is, a display device that is capable ofplaying this media resource, so as to add an identifier of the optionaldisplay device in the query response to enable a control point torecommend a proper display device to the user according to the optionaldisplay device of each media resource. Specifically, the originalresource entry further includes an identifier of a first display device,where a playback capability of the first display device supports a mediaformat in the original resource entry; and the converted resource entryfurther includes an identifier of a second display device, where aplayback capability of the second display device supports a media formatin the converted resource entry.

Further, the corresponding original resource response entry furtherincludes the identifier of the first display device in the originalresource entry; and the corresponding converted resource response entryfurther includes the identifier of the second display device in theconverted resource entry.

If that some display devices also have certain conversion capabilitiesis considered, before the generating the resource information tableaccording to the playback capability information of the at least onedisplay device as well as the media content information and theconversion capability information of the plurality of media servers, themethod further includes: acquiring, by the central server, conversioncapability information of the at least one display device; anddetermining a comprehensive playback capability of each display deviceaccording to the playback capability information and the conversioncapability information of the at least one display device.

The generating the resource information table according to the playbackcapability information of the at least one display device as well as themedia content information and the conversion capability information ofthe plurality of media servers specifically includes: generating theresource information table according to the playback capabilityinformation and the conversion capability information of the at leastone display device as well as the media content information and theconversion capability information of the plurality of media servers,where the resource information table includes the resource identifier,the media format, and the storage path of the at least one mediaresource and the identifier of the optional display device, and acomprehensive playback capability of the optional display devicesupports the media format.

For example, a playback capability of a display device supports MPEG2and MPEG4, and meanwhile, the display device has a conversion capabilityto convert a media resource from a WMV format to the MPEG2 format, andthen a comprehensive playback capability of the display device supportsMPEG2, MPEG4, and WMV. That is, if the display device receives a mediaresource in the WMV format, the display device may convert the mediaresource from the WMV format to the MPEG2 format and play the mediaresource.

Correspondingly, when the resource information table is generated, theplayback capability intersection set may also be determined according tothe comprehensive playback capability of the display device.Specifically, the determining a playback capability intersection setaccording to the playback capability information of the at least onedisplay device, where a playback capability of each display devicesupports at least one media format in the playback capabilityintersection set specifically includes: determining the playbackcapability intersection set according to the playback capabilityinformation and the conversion capability information of the at leastone display device, where the comprehensive playback capability of eachdisplay device supports the at least one media format in the playbackcapability intersection set.

This embodiment of the present invention adopts the following technicalmeans: setting a central server, where the central server returns aquery response to a control device according to a pre-generated resourceinformation table, queries the resource information table according to aresource request of a selected display device, determines that aselected media resource corresponding to information about a selectedstorage path in the resource request is stored on a first media server,and determines a second media server with a conversion capability toconvert a media format of the selected media resource into a mediaformat supported by a playback capability of the selected displaydevice, so as to enable the selected display device to play a mediaresource converted by the second media server from the selected mediaresource. This technical means overcomes a deficiency in the prior artthat, on a home area network that includes a single MS and a single MR,when a format of a media resource on the MS cannot be played on the MR,and the MS is not capable of converting the format of the media resourceinto a format that can be played by the MR, the media resource cannot beplayed; and provides a set of solutions with a plurality of MSs that maycoordinate media resources and conversion capabilities of the pluralityof MSs, so as to adapt to the playback capability of the selecteddisplay device, thereby greatly enhancing user experience.

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a media playback processing methodaccording to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2,the method includes the following steps:

Step 201. A central server receives a query request of a control device.

The central server herein may also serves as a media server. It shouldbe noted that there may be at least one media server and a plurality ofdisplay devices on a home area network to which an embodiment of thepresent invention is applied. In addition, the central server and thecontrol device may be independently set, or be set as a whole.

Step 202. Return a query response to the control device according to apre-generated resource information table, where the query responseincludes a storage path of at least one media resource and an identifierof an optional display device, and a playback capability of the optionaldisplay device supports a media format of the media resource, so as toenable the control device to select one media resource and one optionaldisplay device of the media resource to play the media resource.

Specifically, the resource information table may be generated accordingto media content information and conversion capability information ofthe media server on the home area network as well as playback capabilityinformation of the display device. Correspondingly, before step 201, themethod may further include: acquiring, by the central server, playbackcapability information of a plurality of display devices as well asmedia content information and conversion capability information of atleast one media server that includes the central server; generating theresource information table according to the playback capabilityinformation of the plurality of display devices as well as the mediacontent information and the conversion capability information of the atleast one media server, where the resource information table includes aresource identifier, a media format, and a storage path of the at leastone media resource and the identifier of the optional display device,and the playback capability of the optional display device supports themedia format.

Further, if a conversion capability of the display device is considered,before the generating the resource information table according to theplayback capability information of the plurality of display devices aswell as the media content information and the conversion capabilityinformation of the at least one media server, the method furtherincludes: acquiring, by the central server, conversion capabilityinformation of the plurality of display devices; and determining acomprehensive playback capability of each display device according tothe playback capability information and the conversion capabilityinformation of the plurality of display devices.

The generating the resource information table according to the playbackcapability information of the plurality of display devices as well asthe media content information and the conversion capability informationof the at least one media server specifically includes: generating theresource information table according to the playback capabilityinformation and the conversion capability information of the pluralityof display devices as well as the media content information and theconversion capability information of the at least one media server,where the resource information table includes the resource identifier,the media format, and the storage path of the at least one mediaresource and the identifier of the optional display device, and acomprehensive playback capability of the optional display devicesupports the media format.

Specifically, for a specific form and a generating process of theresource information table and the query response, refer to theforegoing Embodiment 1.

In another optional embodiment of the present invention, when thecontrol device makes a query, the central server may firstly return apre-query response that does not include the identifier of the optionaldisplay device; when a user selects a content name by using the controldevice, the control device queries the central server for a storage pathcorresponding to the selected content name as well as the identifier ofthe optional display device by using a selected request. Specifically,before step 202, the method further includes: returning the pre-queryresponse to the control device according to the pre-generated resourceinformation table, where the pre-query response includes the storagepath of the at least one media resource; receiving a selected request ofthe control device, where the selected request includes the selectedcontent name; determining a storage path of at least one media resourcecorresponding to the selected content name as well as the identifier ofthe optional display device according to the resource information table,where the playback capability of the optional display device supportsthe media format of the media resource; and binding and adding thestorage path of the at least one media resource corresponding to theselected content name as well as the identifier of the optional displaydevice to the query response.

For example, an Action such as SelectContent (IN Content1) may be addedon the central server. The control device requests the Action from thecentral server so as to select one content name, and then the centralserver returns the storage path of the at least one media resourcecorresponding to the content name and the identifier of the optionaldisplay device by using an Action response.

In addition, after step 202, the control device may further limitselection of the user to the selected display device only from theoptional display device, and in this way, a process of converting themedia format is unnecessary; if the selection of the user is not limitedto the selected display device from the optional display device, whenthe user selects a non-optional display device, the control device maysend the selected request to the central server again, and the centralserver queries the resource information table again according to theselected content name as well as an identifier of a selectednon-optional display device, determines that the selected storage pathis included, and feeds back to the selected display device by using thecontrol device.

This embodiment of the present invention adopts the following technicalmeans: setting a central server, where the central server returns aquery response to a control device according to a pre-generated resourceinformation table; and adds a storage path of a media resource and anidentifier of an optional display device to the query response, so as toenable the control device to recommend a display device that is suitablefor a selected media resource to a user according to the query response.This technical means overcomes the foregoing deficiency in the prior artand provides a set of solutions with a plurality of MSs, so as torecommend an MR that is capable of playing the selected media resourceto the user by using the central server and the control device, therebygreatly enhancing user experience.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a media playback control methodaccording to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3,the method includes the following steps:

Step 301. A control device determines a query condition and sends aquery request that includes the query condition to a central server.

Specifically, the control device may determine the query conditionaccording to previous configuration. For example, the control device maybe configured to automatically query all media resources when it isswitched on. Alternatively, the control device may also determine thequery condition according to a query instruction of a user. Generally,the control device may receive all types of instructions of the userthrough a user interface, where the user interface may be a keyboard, atouchscreen, or the like. The query instruction herein may be queryingall the media resources, or querying a media resource conforming to acondition. For example, the query instruction includes a content name;that is, querying a media resource corresponding to the content name.

The control device and the central server may be set as a whole, or beindependently set. When set independently, the control device may sendthe query request according to a communications protocol between thecontrol device and the central server.

Step 302. Receive a query response returned by the central server, anddetermine a selected content name as well as an identifier of a selecteddisplay device according to a selection instruction, where the queryresponse includes a storage path of at least one media resource and anidentifier of an optional display device, and the storage path iscorresponding to one of at least one media server that includes thecentral server.

Specifically, for how to return the query response by the central serveraccording to the query request, refer to the foregoing Embodiment 2.

Step 303. Determine, from the storage path of the at least one mediaresource, a selected storage path corresponding to the selected contentname as well as the identifier of the selected display device, where theselected storage path includes the selected content name, and send theselected storage path to the selected display device.

Specifically, if a storage path of only one media resource includes theselected content name, the media resource serves as a selected mediaresource and the storage path serves as the selected storage path. Ifstorage paths of at least two media resources include the selectedcontent name, one media resource whose optional display deviceidentifier includes the selected display device may be selected as theselected media resource, and the storage path of the media resourceserves as the selected storage path.

Step 304. Send a playback request to the selected display device, so asto enable the selected display device to acquire a media resource fromthe at least one media server according to the selected storage path,and play the media resource.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, before the controldevice determines the query condition, the method further includes:identifying, by the control device, at least one display device and theat least one media server, and identifying the central server from theat least one media server.

Specifically, the control device may discover all display devices andmedia servers on a home area network during a device discovery processand identify the central server according to device descriptioninformation collected during the device discovery process.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, when receiving thequery request in step 301, the central server directly returns the queryresponse in step 302 to the control device, and the control devicereturns a content name of the media resource and the identifier of theoptional display device to the user according to the query request forthe user to select. In this scenario, step 302 specifically includes:receiving the query response; determining a content name of the at leastone media resource according to the storage path of the at least onemedia resource, and displaying the content name of the at least onemedia resource and an identifier of the at least one display device; andreceiving a double selection instruction, where the double selectioninstruction includes the selected content name as well as the identifierof the selected display device, and the selected content name is one ofthe content name of the at least one media resource.

Specifically, the double selection instruction is sent by the userthrough a user interface of the control device.

In another optional embodiment of the present invention, when receivingthe query request in step 301, the central server does not directlyreturn the query response in step 302 to the control device, but firstlyreturns a pre-query response that does not include the identifier of theoptional display device; and the control device returns the content nameof the media resource to the user according to the pre-query response,and then queries the central server for an identifier of an optionaldisplay device of each media resource corresponding to the selectedcontent name according to a selected content name selected by the user.In this scenario, step 302 specifically includes: receiving a pre-queryresponse returned by the central server, where the pre-query responseincludes the storage path of the at least one media resource, and thestorage path points to one of the at least one media server thatincludes the central server; determining the content name of the atleast one media resource according to the storage path of the at leastone media resource, and displaying the content name of the at least onemedia resource and the identifier of the at least one display device;receiving a first single selection instruction, where the first singleselection instruction includes the selected content name, and theselected content name is one of the content name of the at least onemedia resource; sending a selected request that includes the selectedcontent name to the central server; and receiving the query responsereturned by the central server, where the query response includes thestorage path of the at least one media resource corresponding to theselected content name as well as the identifier of the optional displaydevice, where the storage path of the at least one media resourceincludes the selected content name.

Correspondingly, step 303 specifically includes: receiving a secondsingle selection instruction, where the second single selectioninstruction includes the identifier of the selected display device; anddetermining, from the storage path of the at least one media resourcecorresponding to the selected content name, the selected storage pathcorresponding to the identifier of the selected display device.

Specifically, both the first single selection and the second singleselection are sent by the user through the user interface of the controldevice.

In still another optional embodiment of the present invention, there maybe a plurality of media resources with same content names in the queryresponse/pre-query response, and the control device may combine the samecontent names when displaying the plurality of media resources to theuser. Specifically, the query response includes an original resourceresponse entry and a converted resource response entry, where theoriginal resource response entry includes an original identifier, astorage path of an original media resource, and an identifier of a firstdisplay device, and the converted resource response entry includes aconversion identifier, a replacing storage path, and an identifier of asecond display device.

Correspondingly, the displaying the content name of the at least onemedia resource specifically includes: determining content namescorresponding to the original resource response entry and thosecorresponding to the converted resource response entry; and determiningat least one resource family response entry, where the resource familyresponse entry includes an original resource response entry and aconverted resource response entry corresponding to a same content name,and displaying a content name of each resource family response.

Step 303 specifically includes: determining a resource family responseentry corresponding to the selected content name; if the originalresource response entry that includes the identifier of the selecteddisplay device exists in the corresponding resource family responseentry, determining that a storage path in the original resource responseentry is the selected storage path; and if the original resourceresponse entry that includes the identifier of the selected displaydevice does not exist in the corresponding resource family responseentry, but the converted resource response entry that includes theidentifier of the selected display device exists in the correspondingresource family response entry, determining that a storage path in theconverted resource response entry is the selected storage path.

Specifically, a content name corresponding to the original/convertedresource response entry is a content name of the original/convertedmedia resource corresponding to the original/converted resource responseentry, and may be determined according to the storage path in theoriginal/converted resource response entry. There is no need to convertthe original resource response entry, because it is corresponding to theoriginal media resource. Therefore, during the foregoing process,firstly find whether, in the corresponding resource family responseentry, there is an identifier of a first display device of one originalresource response entry that includes the identifier of the selecteddisplay device.

Further, the control device may also recommend an optional displaydevice corresponding to the original media resource to the useraccording to the original identifier in the original resource responseentry. Specifically, the displaying the content name of the at least onemedia resource and an identifier of at least one display devicespecifically includes: binding and returning a content name of eachresource family response entry and the identifier of the first displaydevice to the user.

Specifically, the identifier of the first display device is included inthe original resource entry. The media resource corresponding to theoriginal media resource entry is the original media resource, that is,the first display device is an optional display device capable ofplaying the original media resource without conversion. Therefore, bindand return the content name of each resource family response entry andthe identifier of the first display device to the user, which isconvenient for the user to select a proper display device, so as toreduce conversion as much as possible, lighten a burden of a home areanetwork device, and save time spent by the user in waiting forconversion.

This embodiment of the present invention adopts the following technicalmeans: setting a central server that is interactive with a controldevice, where the control device receives a query response returned bythe central server which includes a storage path of each media resourceand an identifier of an optional display device, and determines aselected storage path corresponding to a selected content name and aselected display device selected by a user; delivers the selectedstorage path to the selected display device. This technical meansovercomes a deficiency in the prior art that, on a home area networkthat includes a single MS and a single MR, when a format of a mediaresource on the MS cannot be played on the MR, and the MS is not capableof converting the format of the media resource into a format that can beplayed by the MR, the media resource cannot be played; and provides aset of solutions with a plurality of MSs and a plurality of MRs, whichmay match, by using the central server and the control device, aselected media resource that can be played with a display deviceselected by the user, thereby greatly enhancing user experience.

The foregoing media playback processing method and media playbackcontrol method according to the embodiments of the present invention mayhave a plurality of application scenarios. The following part furtherintroduces embodiments of the present invention in several applicationscenarios.

In a first application scenario, a central server provides all types ofconversion capabilities, where the central server may be a moduleembedded in another MS, and a conversion capability of the centralserver may be extended by upgrading the module, and the another MS hasno conversion capability. In addition, it may be considered that thecentral server includes functions of an MS and a part of functions of aCP. FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B is a schematic signaling diagram of the firstapplication scenario according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the scenario includes thefollowing processes:

Step 401. A central server acquires playback capability information ofan MR.

Specifically, the central server may send a GetProtocolInfo( ) requestto the MR on a home area network to acquire the playback capabilityinformation of the MR.

Step 402. The central server acquires media content information of theMS.

Specifically, the central server may send a Browse( )/Search( ) requestto the MS on the home area network to acquire the media contentinformation of the MS.

The media content information includes a resource identifier, a contentsize, a URI that includes an absolute path, a media format, and atransport protocol of at least one original media resource.

Step 403. Perform a comparison operation on capability information ofthe MR, try to obtain an intersection set, and generate a resourceinformation table according to an operation result and the media contentinformation.

The resource information table may be described in an extensible markuplanguage (XML) format and be classified into an original resource entryand a converted resource entry. Each original resource entry and acorresponding converted resource entry are described in one segment ofthe XML. Further, default may be used as an original identifier, andtranscode may be used as a conversion identifier; that is, a resourceentry that includes default is the original resource entry, and aresource entry that includes transcode is the converted resource entry.

Step 404. A control device identifies the central server.

Step 405. The control device makes a query to the central server andobtains the media content information.

Specifically, the control device may make a query to the central serverby using a Browse( )/Search( ) Action instruction based on a queryinstruction of a user.

Step 406. The control device delivers a selected URI to a selected MR 1.

Specifically, the control device may deliver the selected URI to the MR1 by using a SetAVTransportURI( ) request. It is assumed that theselected URI points to the central server.

Step 407. The control service sends a playback request to the selectedMR 1.

Step 408. The MR 1 requests a resource from the central server by usingan HTTP Get request.

Specifically, before step 408, the MR 1 may establish an HTTP connectionwith the central server according to a path part in the selected URI.

Step 409. The central server determines that a selected media resourcethat is requested is on an MS 2 according to the resource informationtable, and the requested selected media resource is required to beconverted.

Herein, it is assumed that the selected media resource is not on thecentral server but on the MS 2.

In an application, there are several processing manners after thecentral server receives a resource request.

(1) The selected media resource that is requested is on the centralserver and is not required to be converted. That is, the selected mediaresource that is requested is corresponding to the original resourceentry, and then the central server directly responds to the HTTP Getrequest of the MR 1 and transmits the selected media resource to the MR1.

(2) The selected media resource that is requested is on the centralserver but is required to be converted. That is, the selected mediaresource that is requested is corresponding to the converted resourceentry, and then the central server responds to the HTTP Get request ofthe MR 1 in a manner of converting while transmitting, and transmits aselected media resource after conversion to the MR 1.

(3) The selected media resource that is requested is not on the centralserver and is required to be converted, that is, the selected mediaresource that is requested is corresponding to the converted resourceentry, and then the central server automatically initiates the HTTP Getrequest to another MS according to a URI in the original resource entrycorresponding to the converted resource entry; the another MS respondsto the request and send the selected media resource to the centralserver; then the central server responds to the HTTP Get request of theMR 1 in the manner of converting while transmitting; when converting theselected media resource, the central server locally backs up theselected media resource after conversion.

In addition, in a case in which the selected media resource that isrequested is not on the central server but is not required to beconverted, a URI of the selected media resource on the another MS isstored in the original resource entry of the resource information tableof the central server. Therefore, in step 408, the MR 1 directlyrequests the resource from the another MS, and the another MS directlyresponds to the HTTP Get request of the MR 1 and transmits the selectedmedia resource to the MR 1.

Step 410. The central server requests the resource from the MS2 by usingthe HTTP Get request.

Step 411. The central server dynamically converts the resource.

Step 412. The central server responds to the HTTP Get request of the MR1 and dynamically transmits a resource after conversion.

Step 413. The MR 1 receives content in real time and displays thecontent.

Step 414. The central server updates the resource information tableafter completing the conversion and transmission of the resource.

Specifically, firstly transcode in the converted resource entrycorresponding to the selected media resource is changed to default, andan IP address of the central server in the URI is changed to an IPaddress of the MS 2; then content corresponding to the convertedresource entry is shifted into another XML table and serves as a neworiginal resource entry to create a label.

Step 415. The central server uploads the resource after conversion tothe MS 2.

Specifically, the central server may send an Import( ) to command the MS2 to download the selected media resource after conversion to adesignated URI on the MS 2. In addition, optionally, the selected mediaresource after conversion is deleted from the central server after theuploading succeeds.

In a second application scenario, a central server has no conversioncapability, and the central server may be a module embedded on anotherMS; an MR and the another MS have the conversion capability; inaddition, it may be considered that the central server includesfunctions of the MS and a part of functions of a CP. FIG. 5A and FIG. 5Bis a schematic signaling diagram of the second application scenarioaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5Aand FIG. 5B, the scenario includes the following processes:

Step 501. A central server acquires playback capability information andconversion capability information of an MR.

Specifically, the central server may send a GetProtocolInfo( ) requestto the MR on a home area network to acquire the playback capabilityinformation and the conversion capability information of the MR.

Step 502. The central server acquires media content information andconversion capability information of an MS.

Specifically, the central server may send a Browse( )/Search( ) requestto the MS on the home area network to acquire the media contentinformation and the conversion capability information of the MS.

Step 503. The central server pairs with the MR and the MS according tothe media content information and generates a resource informationtable.

Specifically, the resource information table includes a capabilityinformation table, an actual resource entry, and a resource serverpairing entry, where the capability information table is shown in Table2.

TABLE 2 Supported Conversion Supported Supported transport MR/MScapability media format resolution protocol MR 1 MPEG2<->WMV MPEG4,MPEG2 1080p, 720p HTTP, RTP/RTSP MS 1 MPEG2<->MPEG4, H.264<->MPEG4 MR 2MPEG4<->AVI MPEG2, AVI, 720p, 480p HTTP WMV MS 2 MPEG2<->AVC,MPEG4<->AVI MR 3 MPEG4<->AVI WMV, AVC, 720p, 240p HTTP H.264

Further, pairing is performed according to the capability informationtable and the media content information. A pairing rule may be matchingaccording to the media resource information and a conversion capabilityof the MR/MS and selecting optimal matching. Specifically, the pairingmay be performed in the following two steps:

1) Pair a media resource with the MR and generate the actual resourcetable;

2) Pair the MS with a media resource that cannot be played and convertedby the MR, and generate the resource server pairing entry, where theresource server pairing entry includes an absolute URI that points to anactual storage path of the media resource and an absolute URI afterconversion, and the absolute URI after conversion points to an MS with acorresponding conversion capability.

Step 504. A control device identifies the central server.

Step 505. The control device makes a query to the central server andobtains the media content information.

Specifically, the control device may make a query to the central serverby using a Browse( )/Search( ) Action instruction based on a queryinstruction of users. The central server performs the foregoing pairing;therefore, the pairing information may be added to information returnedby the control device, so as to enable the users to select desired mediacontent in the control device; the control device may recommend an MR tothe users, and if there is no MR to recommend, the users may select oneby themselves.

Step 506. The control device delivers a selected URI to a selected MR 1.

Specifically, the selected URI may be delivered by using aSetAVTransportURI( ) request. It is assumed that the selected URI pointsto the central server.

Step 507. The control service delivers a playback request to theselected MR 1.

Step 508. The MR 1 requests a resource from the central server by usingan HTTP Get request.

Step 509. The central server checks a pairing result according to theresource information table, and determines that the selected mediaresource is stored on the MS 1 and the MS 2 has a correspondingconversion capability.

In step 508, the HTTP Get request sent by the MR 1 carries a path partof the selected URI. In step 509, the central server checks whether theselected URI is paired with the MR 1, that is, whether there is anactual resource entry that includes an identifier of the selected URIand an identifier of the MR 1. Assuming that the pairing fails, it isdetermined that the selected media resource is stored on the MS 1according to the resource server pairing entry, and the MS 2 has thecorresponding conversion capability.

Step 510. The central server requests conversion from the MS 1.

Specifically, the central server requests conversion from the MS 1 byusing a SetTransform( ) Action command. Parameters of SetTransform( )Action are as follows:

Parameters Direction Description SourceURI IN Absolute URI of a sourcefile Transcode IN Object file format after conversion DesURI IN AbsoluteURI of an object file after conversion

Step 511. The MS 1 makes a request to the MS 2 and obtains the resource.

Specifically, the MS 1 requests the selected media resource from the MS2 according to a parameter SourceURI of SetTransform( ) Action.

Step 512. The MS 1 performs dynamical conversion.

Specifically, the MS 1 determines, according to a parameter Transcode ofSet Transform( )Action, a media format into which the selected mediaresource is converted, and stores a selected media resource afterconversion in a position indicated by a parameter DesURI.

Step 513. The MS 1 responds to a conversion request of the centralserver.

Specifically, the MS 1 sends the resource after conversion to thecentral server.

Step 514. The central server temporarily stores the resource afterconversion.

Step 515. The central server responds to the HTTP Get request of the MR1 and dynamically transmits temporarily stored content.

Step 516. The MR 1 receives the content in real time and displays thecontent.

Step 517. The central server uploads the resource after conversion tothe MS 2.

Specifically, the central server requests CreateObject( ) Action fromthe MS 2; then a CP on the central server sends Import ( ) Action to thecentral server and requests the MS 2 to download the resource afterconversion from the central server and store the resource afterconversion.

Step 518. The central server updates the resource information table.

A third application scenario is similar to the second applicationscenario. A central server has no conversion capability, and the centralserver may be a module embedded on another MS; an MR and the another MShave the conversion capability; in addition, it may be considered thatthe central server includes functions of an MS and a part of functionsof a CP. FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B is a schematic signaling diagram of thethird application scenario according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, the scenario includes thefollowing processes:

Step 601. A central server acquires playback capability information andconversion capability information of an MR.

Specifically, the central server may send a GetProtocolInfo( ) requestto the MR on a home area network to acquire the playback capabilityinformation and the conversion capability of the MR.

Step 602. The central server acquires media content information andconversion capability information of MSs. Specifically, the centralserver may send a Browse( )/Search( ) request to the MSs on the homearea network to acquire the media content information and the conversioncapability information of the MSs.

Step 603. The central server pairs with the MR and the MS according tothe media content information and generates a resource informationtable.

Step 604. A control device identifies the central server.

Step 605. The control device makes a query to the central server andobtains the media content information.

Step 606. The control device delivers a selected URI to a selected MR 1.

Specifically, the control device delivers the selected URI by using aSetAVTransportURI( ) request. It is assumed that the selected URI pointsto the central server.

Step 607. The control device delivers a playback request to the selectedMR 1.

Step 608. The MR 1 requests a resource from the central server by usingan HTTP Get request.

Step 609. The central server checks a pairing result according to theresource information table, and determines that the selected mediaresource is stored on the MS 1 and the MS 2 has a correspondingconversion capability.

Step 610. The central server requests conversion from the MS 1.

For an implementation process of steps 601 to 610, refer to steps 501 to510.

Step 611. The MS 1 returns a NewURI used for HTTP redirection to thecentral server and requests the resource from the MS 2.

Specifically, the MS 1 requests the selected media resource from the MS1 according to a parameter SourceURI of SetTransform( ) Action.

Step 612. The central server responds to the HTTP Get request of the MR1 by using an HTTP redirect message, where the HTTP redirect messagecarries a URI after redirection, and meanwhile, the MS 1 performsdynamical conversion.

Specifically, the central server determines an actual URI of theselected media resource according to the resource information table andreturns the actual URI to the MR 1. The MS 1 determines, according to aparameter Transcode of Set Transform( ) Action, a media format intowhich the selected media resource is converted, and stores a selectedmedia resource after conversion in a position indicated by a parameterDesURI.

Step 613. The MR 1 requests the resource from the MS 1 by using the HTTPGet request.

Specifically, the MR 1 requests the resource from the MS 1 according tothe actual URI returned by the central server.

Step 614. The MS 1 responds to the request of the MR 1 and dynamicallytransmits the resource after conversion.

Step 615. The MR 1 receives content in real time and displays thecontent.

Step 616. The MS 1 informs the central server in a form of an eventafter completing the conversion and transmission of the resource.

Step 617. The central server instructs the MS 2 to download the resourceafter conversion.

Specifically, a CP on the central server requests CreateObject( ) Actionform the MS 2; then the CP on the central server sends an Import( ) tocommand the MS 2 to download the resource after conversion from the MS1.

Step 618. The central server updates the resource information table.

Specifically, the central server receives a returned value of theImport( ) Action command, where the returned value is sent by the MS 2,and determines that the MS 2 updates the resource information tableafter the downloading succeeds.

In addition, in the foregoing application scenario, the control deviceand the central server may be set as a whole.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or a partof the steps of the method embodiments may be implemented by a programinstructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in a computerreadable storage medium. When the program runs, the steps of the methodembodiments are performed. The foregoing storage medium includes: anymedium that can store program code, such as a read-only memory (ROM), arandom-access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a central server accordingto Embodiment 4 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, thecentral server includes: a first interface 71 configured to receive aquery request of a control device and return a query response to thecontrol device according to a pre-generated resource information table,where the query response includes a storage path of at least one mediaresource; a second interface 72 configured to receive a resource requestof a selected display device selected by the control device, where theresource request includes information about a selected storage path; anda querying module 73 configured to query the resource information table,determine that a selected media resource corresponding to theinformation about the selected storage path is stored on a first mediaserver, and determine a second media server with a conversion capabilityto convert a media format of the selected media resource into a mediaformat supported by a playback capability of the selected displaydevice, so as to enable the selected display device to play a mediaresource converted by the second media server from the selected mediaresource.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the central serverfurther includes: an acquiring module 74 configured to acquire playbackcapability information of at least one display device that includes theselected display device as well as media content information andconversion capability information of a plurality of media servers thatinclude the central server, the first media server, and the second mediaserver; and a generating module 75 configured to generate the resourceinformation table according to the playback capability information ofthe at least one display device as well as the media content informationand the conversion capability information of the plurality of mediaservers, where the resource information table includes a resourceidentifier, a media format, and a storage path of at least one mediaresource.

In another optional embodiment of the present invention, the resourceinformation table includes an original resource entry and a convertedresource entry, and the generating module 75 specifically includes: anintersection set determining unit configured to determine a playbackcapability intersection set according to the playback capabilityinformation of the at least one display device, where a playbackcapability of each display device supports at least one media format inthe playback capability intersection set; an original entry unitconfigured to determine an original media resource according to themedia content information of the plurality of media servers and generatethe original resource entry, where the original resource entry includesan original identifier as well as a resource identifier, a media format,and a storage path of the original media resource, and the storage pathof the original media resource points to the first media server thatstores the original media resource; and a converted entry unitconfigured to determine, according to a media format that is in theplayback capability intersection set and is different from the mediaformat of the original media resource, a converted media resourcecorresponding to the original media resource, generate a convertedresource entry corresponding to the original resource entry, where theconverted resource entry includes a conversion identifier as well as aresource identifier, a media format, and a storage path of the convertedmedia resource, and the storage path of the converted media resourcepoints to the central server, and establish a correspondence between theconverted resource entry and a media server with a conversion capabilityto convert the media format of the original media resource into themedia format of the converted media resource, where the media format ofthe converted media resource is different from the media format of thecorresponding original media resource, and the media format of theconverted media resource is in the playback capability intersection set.

In still another optional embodiment of the present invention, the firstinterface 71 is specifically configured to: query the resourceinformation table according to a query condition included in the queryrequest; determine an original resource entry that meets the querycondition, and add a corresponding original resource response entry tothe query response, where the original resource response entry includesthe original identifier and the storage path of the original mediaresource that are in the original resource entry; and determine aconverted resource entry that meets the query condition, and add acorresponding converted resource response entry to the query response,where the converted resource response entry includes the conversionidentifier and the storage path of the converted media resource that arein the converted resource entry.

In still another optional embodiment of the present invention, thequerying module 73 is specifically configured to: find a convertedresource entry that includes the selected storage path according to theinformation about the selected storage path in the resource request; anddetermine an original resource entry corresponding to the convertedresource entry that includes the selected storage path, determine afirst media server to which a storage path in the corresponding originalresource entry points, and determine a second media server correspondingto the converted resource entry that includes the selected storage path.

In still another optional embodiment of the present invention, theoriginal resource entry further includes an identifier of a firstdisplay device, where a playback capability of the first display devicesupports the media format in the original resource entry; and theconverted resource entry further includes an identifier of a seconddisplay device, where a playback capability of the second display devicesupports the media format in the converted resource entry.

The corresponding original resource response entry further includes theidentifier of the first display device in the original resource entry;and the corresponding converted resource response entry further includesthe identifier of the second display device in the converted resourceentry.

In still another optional embodiment of the present invention, theacquiring module 74 is further configured to: acquire conversioncapability information of the at least one display device; and determinea comprehensive playback capability of each display device according tothe playback capability information and the conversion capabilityinformation of the at least one display device.

The generating module 75 is specifically configured to: generate theresource information table according to the playback capabilityinformation and the conversion capability information of the at leastone display device as well as the media content information and theconversion capability information of the plurality of media servers,where the resource information table includes a resource identifier, amedia format, and a storage path of at least one media resource and anidentifier of an optional display device, and a comprehensive playbackcapability of the optional display device supports the media format.

Further, the intersection set determining unit is specificallyconfigured to: determine the playback capability intersection setaccording to the playback capability information and the conversioncapability information of the at least one display device, where acomprehensive playback capability of each display device supports atleast one media format in the playback capability intersection set.

In still another optional embodiment of the present invention, thequerying module 73 is further configured to: if the central server isthe second media server, acquire the selected media resource from thefirst media server, convert the selected media resource, obtain aselected media resource after conversion, and send the selected mediaresource after conversion to the selected display device; or thequerying module 73 is further configured to: if the central server isnot the second media server, redirect the resource request to the secondmedia server, so as to enable the second media server to acquire theselected media resource from the first media server, convert theselected media resource, obtain a selected media resource afterconversion, and send the selected media resource after conversion to theselected display device; or the querying module 73 is further configuredto: if the central server is not the second media server, instruct thesecond media server to acquire the selected media resource from thefirst media server, so as to enable the second media server to convertthe selected media resource and return a selected media resource afterconversion to the central server; and configured to send the selectedmedia resource after conversion to the selected display device.

In still another optional embodiment of the present invention, thecentral server further includes: a downloading module configured todownload the selected media resource after conversion from the secondmedia server if the central server is the first media server; a secondinstructing module configured to instruct the first media server todownload the selected media resource after conversion from the secondmedia server or the central server if the central server is not thefirst media server; and an updating module configured to update theresource information table according to the selected media resourceafter conversion.

For specific implementation of this embodiment, refer to the mediaplayback processing method according to Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention. This embodiment of the present invention adopts the followingtechnical means: setting a central server, where the central serverreturns a query response to a control device according to apre-generated resource information table, queries the resourceinformation table according to a resource request of a selected displaydevice, determines that a selected media resource corresponding toinformation about a selected storage path in the resource request isstored on a first media server, and determines a second media serverwith a conversion capability to convert a media format of the selectedmedia resource into a media format supported by a playback capability ofthe selected display device, so as to enable the selected display deviceto play a media resource converted by the second media server from theselected media resource. This technical means overcomes a deficiency inthe prior art that, on a home area network that includes a single MS anda single MR, when a format of a media resource on the MS cannot beplayed on the MR, and the MS is not capable of converting the format ofthe media resource into a format that can be played by the MR, the mediaresource cannot be played; and provides a set of solutions with aplurality of MSs that may coordinate media resources and conversioncapabilities of the plurality of MSs, so as to adapt to the playbackcapability of the selected display device, thereby greatly enhancinguser experience.

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a central server accordingto Embodiment 5 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, thecentral server includes: a receiving module 81 configured to receive aquery request of a control device; and a sending module 82 configured toreturn a query response to the control device according to apre-generated resource information table, where the query responseincludes a storage path of at least one media resource and an identifierof an optional display device, and a playback capability of the optionaldisplay device supports a media format of the media resource, so as toenable the control device to select one media resource and one optionaldisplay device of the media resource to play the media resource.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the central serverfurther includes: an acquiring module 83 configured to acquire playbackcapability information of a plurality of display devices as well asmedia content information and conversion capability information of atleast one media server that includes the central server; and agenerating module 84 configured to generate the resource informationtable according to the playback capability information of the pluralityof display devices as well as the media content information and theconversion capability information of the at least one media server,where the resource information table includes a resource identifier, amedia format, and a storage path of at least one media resource and theidentifier of the optional display device, and the playback capabilityof the optional display device supports the media format.

In another optional embodiment of the present invention, the acquiringmodule 83 is specifically configured to: acquire conversion capabilityinformation of the plurality of display devices; and determine acomprehensive playback capability of each display device according tothe playback capability information and the conversion capabilityinformation of the plurality of display devices.

The generating module 84 is specifically configured to: generate theresource information table according to the playback capabilityinformation and the conversion capability information of the pluralityof display devices as well as the media content information and theconversion capability information of the at least one media server,where the resource information table includes the resource identifier,the media format, and the storage path of the at least one mediaresource and the identifier of the optional display device, and thecomprehensive playback capability of the optional display devicesupports the media format.

In still another optional embodiment of the present invention, thegenerating module 84 is further configured to: before the returning aquery response to the control device according to a pre-generatedresource information table, return a pre-query response to the controldevice according to the pre-generated resource information table, wherethe pre-query response includes a storage path of at least one mediaresource; receive a selected request of the control device, where theselected request includes a selected content name; determine a storagepath of at least one media resource corresponding to the selectedcontent name as well as the identifier of the optional display deviceaccording to the resource information table, where the playbackcapability of the optional display device supports a media format of themedia resource; and bind and add the storage path of the at least onemedia resource corresponding to the selected content name as well as theidentifier of the optional display device to the query response.

For specific implementation of this embodiment, refer to the mediaplayback processing method according to Embodiment 2 of the presentinvention. This embodiment of the present invention adopts the followingtechnical means: setting a central server, where the central serverreturns a query response to a control device according to apre-generated resource information table; and adds a storage path of amedia resource and an identifier of an optional display device to thequery response, so as to enable the control device to recommend adisplay device that is suitable for a selected media resource to a useraccording to the query response. This technical means overcomes adeficiency in the prior art that, on a home area network that includes asingle MS and a single MR, when a format of a media resource on the MScannot be played on the MR, and the MS is not capable of converting theformat of the media resource into a format that can be played by the MR,the media resource cannot be played; and provides a set of solutionswith a plurality of MRs that can recommend an MR that is capable ofplaying the selected media resource to the user by using the centralserver and the control device, thereby greatly enhancing userexperience.

It should be noted that all the central servers in the embodiments ofthe present invention may be implemented by combining software andhardware. Specifically, a central server includes a processor, a memory,and a communications module that interacts with a control device, wherethe memory stores code that is used to implement functions of eachforegoing module/unit; the processor is configured to execute the codestored in the memory; and the communications module may be any wired orwireless communications module, such as an Ethernet communicationsmodule, a radio frequency communications module, a Bluetoothcommunications module, or a general packet radio service (GPRS)communications module.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a control device accordingto Embodiment 6 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, thecontrol device includes: a determining module 91 configured to determinea query condition and send a query request that includes the querycondition to a central server; a processing module 92 configured toreceive a query response returned by the central server and determine aselected content name as well as an identifier of a selected displaydevice according to a selection instruction, where the query responseincludes a storage path of at least one media resource and an identifierof an optional display device, and the storage path points to one of atleast one media server that includes the central server; a selectingmodule 93 configured to determine, from the storage path of the at leastone media resource, a selected storage path corresponding to theselected content name as well as the identifier of the selected displaydevice, where the selected storage path includes the selected contentname, and send the selected storage path to the selected display device;and a playing module 94 configured to send a playback request to theselected display device, so as to enable the selected display device toacquire a media resource from the at least one media server according tothe selected storage path and play the media resource.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the control devicefurther includes: an identifying module configured to identify at leastone display device and the at least one media server, and identify thecentral server from the at least one media server.

In another optional embodiment of the present invention, the processingmodule 92 is specifically configured to: receive the query response;determine a content name of the at least one media resource according tothe storage path of the at least one media resource, and display thecontent name of the at least one media resource and an identifier of theat least one display device; and receive a double selection instruction,where the double selection instruction includes the selected contentname as well as the identifier of the selected display device, and theselected content name is one of the content name of the at least onemedia resource.

In another optional embodiment of the present invention, the processingmodule 92 is specifically configured to: receive a pre-query responsereturned by the central server, where the pre-query response includes astorage path of at least one media resource, and the storage path pointsto one of the at least one media server that includes the centralserver; determine the content name of the at least one media resourceaccording to the storage path of the at least one media resource, anddisplay the content name of the at least one media resource; receive afirst single selection instruction, where the first single selectioninstruction includes the selected content name, and the selected contentname is one of the content name of the at least one media resource; senda selected request that includes the selected content name to thecentral server; and receive the query response returned by the centralserver, where the query response includes the storage path of the atleast one media resource corresponding to the selected content name aswell as the identifier of the optional display device, where the storagepath of the at least one media resource includes the selected contentname.

The selecting module 93 is specifically configured to: receive a secondsingle selection instruction, where the second single selectioninstruction includes the identifier of the selected display device; anddetermine, from the storage path of the at least one media resourcecorresponding to the selected content name, the selected storage pathcorresponding to the identifier of the selected display device.

In another optional embodiment of the present invention, the queryresponse includes an original resource response entry and a convertedresource response entry, where the original resource response entryincludes an original identifier, a storage path of an original mediaresource, and an identifier of a first display device, and the convertedresource response entry includes a conversion identifier, a storage pathof a converted media resource, and an identifier of a second displaydevice.

The processing module 92 is specifically configured to: determinecontent names corresponding to the original resource response entry andthose corresponding to the converted resource response entry; anddetermine at least one resource family response entry, where theresource family response entry includes an original resource responseentry and a converted resource response entry corresponding to a samecontent name, and display a content name of each resource familyresponse.

The selecting module 93 is specifically configured to: determine aresource family response entry corresponding to the selected contentname; if the original resource response entry that includes theidentifier of the selected display device exists in the correspondingresource family response entry, determine that a storage path in theoriginal resource response entry is the selected storage path; and ifthe original resource response entry that includes the identifier of theselected display device does not exist in the corresponding resourcefamily response entry, but the converted resource response entry thatincludes the identifier of the selected display device exists in thecorresponding resource family response entry, determine that a storagepath in the converted resource response entry is the selected storagepath.

In another optional embodiment of the present invention, the processingmodule 92 is specifically configured to: bind and display the contentname of each resource family response entry and the identifier of thefirst display device.

For specific implementation of this embodiment, refer to the mediaplayback control method according to Embodiment 3 of the presentinvention. This embodiment of the present invention adopts the followingtechnical means: setting a central server that is interactive with acontrol device, where the control device receives a query responsereturned by the central server which includes a storage path of eachmedia resource and an identifier of an optional display device, anddetermines a selected storage path corresponding to a selected contentname and a selected display device selected by a user; delivers theselected storage path to the selected display device. This technicalmeans overcomes a deficiency in the prior art that, on a home areanetwork that includes a single MS and a single MR, when a format of amedia resource on the MS cannot be played on the MR, and the MS is notcapable of converting the format of the media resource into a formatthat can be played by the MR, the media resource cannot be played; andprovides a set of solutions with a plurality of MSs and a plurality ofMRs, which may match, by using the central server and the controldevice, a display device selected the user with a media resource thatcan be played, thereby greatly enhancing user experience.

It should be noted that the control device in this embodiment of thepresent invention may be implemented by combining software and hardware.Specifically, the control device may include a processor, a memory, anda communications module that interacts with the central server, wherethe memory stores code used to implement functions of each foregoingmodule/unit; the processor is configured to execute the code stored inthe memory; and the communications module may be any wired or wirelesscommunications module, such as an Ethernet communications module, aradio frequency communications module, a Bluetooth communicationsmodule, or a GPRS communications module. In addition, the control devicemay also be designed in a form similar to an existing remote control.

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a media playback processingand control system according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention.As shown in FIG. 10, the system includes: a control device 11, at leastone display device 12, and at least one media server 13, and a mediaserver 13 in the at least one media server may be the central server asdescribed in Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

Further, the control device 11 may be the control device as described inEmbodiment 6 of the present invention.

Further, the control device and the central server may be set as awhole.

This embodiment of the present invention adopts the following technicalmeans: setting a central server, where the central server returns aquery response to a control device according to a pre-generated resourceinformation table, instructs a second media server to acquire a selectedmedia resource from a first media server according to a resource requestof a selected display device, converts the selected media resource, andsends a selected media resource after conversion to the selected displaydevice. This technical means may coordinate media resources andconversion capabilities of a plurality of MSs to adapt to a playbackcapability of the selected display device; or add a storage path of amedia resource and an identifier of an optional display device to thequery response, so as to enable the control device to recommend adisplay device that is suitable for the selected media resource to auser according to the query response, thereby greatly enhancing userexperience.

Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merelyintended for describing the technical solutions of the present inventionother than limiting the present invention. Although the presentinvention is described in detail with reference to the foregoingembodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand thatthey may still make modifications to the technical solutions describedin the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent replacements to sometechnical features thereof, without departing from the scope of thetechnical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A media playback processing method, comprising:receiving, by a central server, a query request of a control device, andreturning a query response to the control device according to apre-generated resource information table, wherein the query responsecomprises a storage path of at least one media resource; receiving aresource request of a selected display device selected by the controldevice, wherein the resource request comprises information about aselected storage path; and querying the resource information table,determining that a selected media resource corresponding to theinformation about the selected storage path is stored on a first mediaserver, and determining a second media server with a conversioncapability to convert a media format of the selected media resource intoa media format supported by a playback capability of the selecteddisplay device to enable the selected display device to play a mediaresource converted by the second media server from the selected mediaresource.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein before receiving,by the central server, the query request of the control device, themethod further comprises: acquiring, by the central server, playbackcapability information of at least one display device that comprises theselected display device, as well as media content information andconversion capability information of a plurality of media servers thatcomprise the central server, the first media server, and the secondmedia server; and generating the resource information table according tothe playback capability information of the at least one display deviceas well as the media content information and the conversion capabilityinformation of the plurality of media servers, wherein the resourceinformation table comprises a resource identifier, a media format, and astorage path of at least one media resource.
 3. The method according toclaim 2, wherein the resource information table comprises an originalresource entry and a converted resource entry, and generating theresource information table according to the playback capabilityinformation of the at least one display device as well as the mediacontent information and the conversion capability information of theplurality of media servers specifically comprises: determining aplayback capability intersection set according to the playbackcapability information of the at least one display device, wherein aplayback capability of each display device supports at least one mediaformat in the playback capability intersection set; determining anoriginal media resource according to the media content information ofthe plurality of media servers, and generating the original resourceentry, wherein the original resource entry comprises an originalidentifier as well as a resource identifier, a media format, and astorage path of the original media resource, and the storage path of theoriginal media resource points to a media server that stores theoriginal media resource; and determining, according to a media formatthat is in the playback capability intersection set and is differentfrom the media format of the original media resource, a converted mediaresource corresponding to the original media resource, generating theconverted resource entry corresponding to the original resource entry,wherein the converted resource entry comprises a conversion identifieras well as a resource identifier, a media format, and a storage path ofthe converted media resource, and the storage path of the convertedmedia resource points to the central server, and establishing acorrespondence between the converted resource entry and a media serverwith a conversion capability to convert the media format of the originalmedia resource into the media format of the converted media resource,wherein the media format of the converted media resource is differentfrom the media format of the corresponding original media resource, andthe media format of the converted media resource is in the playbackcapability intersection set.
 4. The method according to claim 3, whereindetermining, according to the media format that is in the playbackcapability intersection set and is different from the media format ofthe original media resource, the converted media resource correspondingto the original media resource, and generating the converted resourceentry corresponding to the original resource entry specificallycomprises: determining N converted media resources corresponding to theoriginal media resource, and generating N converted resource entriescorresponding to the original resource entry when the playbackcapability intersection set comprises N media formats and the mediaformat of the original media resource is not in the playback capabilityintersection set, and N is a natural number that is greater than orequal to two, wherein the N converted resource entries comprise the Nmedia formats; and determining (N−1) converted media resourcescorresponding to the original media resource, and generating (N−1)converted resource entries corresponding to the original resource entrywhen the playback capability intersection set comprises N media formatsand the media format of the original media resource is in the playbackcapability intersection set, and N is a natural number that is greaterthan or equal to two, wherein the (N−1) converted resource entriesseparately comprise all media formats in the N media formats except themedia format of the original media resource.
 5. The method according toclaim 3, wherein before returning the query response to the controldevice according to the pre-generated resource information table, themethod further comprises: querying, by the central server, the resourceinformation table according to a query condition comprised in the queryrequest; determining an original resource entry that meets the querycondition, and adding a corresponding original resource response entryto the query response, wherein the original resource response entrycomprises the original identifier and the storage path of the originalmedia resource that are in the original resource entry; and determininga converted resource entry that meets the query condition, and adding acorresponding converted resource response entry to the query response,wherein the converted resource response entry comprises the conversionidentifier and the storage path of the converted media resource that arein the converted resource entry.
 6. The method according to claim 5,wherein querying, by the central server, the resource information tableaccording to the query condition comprised in the query request furthercomprises: finding a converted resource entry that comprises theselected storage path according to the information about the selectedstorage path in the resource request; and determining an originalresource entry corresponding to the converted resource entry thatcomprises the selected storage path, determining the first media serverto which a storage path in the corresponding original resource entrypoints, and determining the second media server corresponding to theconverted resource entry that comprises the selected storage path. 7.The method according to claim 5, wherein the original resource entryfurther comprises an identifier of a first display device, wherein aplayback capability of the first display device supports the mediaformat in the original resource entry, wherein the converted resourceentry further comprises an identifier of a second display device, andwherein a playback capability of the second display device supports themedia format in the converted resource entry.
 8. The method according toclaim 7, wherein the corresponding original resource response entryfurther comprises the identifier of the first display device in theoriginal resource entry, and the corresponding converted resourceresponse entry further comprises the identifier of the second displaydevice in the converted resource entry.
 9. The method according to claim7, wherein before generating the resource information table according tothe playback capability information of the at least one display deviceas well as the media content information and the conversion capabilityinformation of the plurality of media servers, the method furthercomprises: acquiring, by the central server, conversion capabilityinformation of the at least one display device; determining acomprehensive playback capability of each display device according tothe playback capability information and the conversion capabilityinformation of the at least one display device, wherein generating theresource information table according to the playback capabilityinformation of the at least one display device as well as the mediacontent information and the conversion capability information of theplurality of media servers specifically comprises generating theresource information table according to the playback capabilityinformation and the conversion capability information of the at leastone display device as well as the media content information and theconversion capability information of the plurality of media servers,wherein the resource information table comprises the resourceidentifier, the media format, and the storage path of the at least onemedia resource and an identifier of an optional display device; andwherein a comprehensive playback capability of the optional displaydevice supports the media format.
 10. The method according to claim 9,wherein determining the playback capability intersection set accordingto the playback capability information of the at least one displaydevice, wherein the playback capability of each display device supportsat least one media format in the playback capability intersection setspecifically comprises determining the playback capability intersectionset according to the playback capability information and the conversioncapability information of the at least one display device, wherein thecomprehensive playback capability of each display device supports atleast one media format in the playback capability intersection set. 11.The method according to claim 1, wherein after determining that theselected media resource corresponding to the information about theselected storage path is stored on the first media server, anddetermining the second media server with the conversion capability toconvert the media format of the selected media resource into the mediaformat supported by the playback capability of the selected displaydevice, the method further comprises: acquiring, by the central server,the selected media resource from the first media server when the centralserver is the second media server, converting the selected mediaresource to obtain a selected media resource after conversion, andsending the selected media resource after conversion to the selecteddisplay device; redirecting, by the central server, the resource requestto the second media server when the central server is not the secondmedia server to enable the second media server to acquire the selectedmedia resource from the first media server, convert the selected mediaresource to obtain a selected media resource after conversion, and sendthe selected media resource after conversion to the selected displaydevice; and instructing, by the central server, the second media serverto acquire the selected media resource from the first media server whenthe central server is not the second media server to enable the secondmedia server to convert the selected media resource and return aselected media resource after conversion to the central server; andsending, by the central server, the selected media resource afterconversion to the selected display device.
 12. The method according toclaim 11, wherein after converting the selected media resource, themethod further comprises: downloading, by the central server, theselected media resource after conversion from the second media serverwhen the central server is the first media server; instructing, by thecentral server, the first media server to download the selected mediaresource after conversion from the central server or the second mediaserver when the central server is not the first media server; andupdating, by the central server, the resource information tableaccording to the selected media resource after conversion.
 13. Themethod according to claim 12, wherein updating, by the central server,the resource information table according to the selected media resourceafter conversion specifically comprises setting, by the central server,the selected media resource after conversion to be the original mediaresource, and updating the original resource entry and the convertedresource entry.
 14. A media playback control method, comprising:determining, by a control device, a query condition, and sending a queryrequest that comprises the query condition to a central server;receiving a query response returned by the central server, anddetermining a selected content name as well as an identifier of aselected display device according to a selection instruction, whereinthe query response comprises a storage path of at least one mediaresource and an identifier of an optional display device, and thestorage path points to one of at least one media server that comprisesthe central server; determining, from the storage path of the at leastone media resource, a selected storage path corresponding to theselected content name as well as the identifier of the selected displaydevice, wherein the selected storage path comprises the selected contentname, and sending the selected storage path to the selected displaydevice; and sending a playback request to the selected display device toenable the selected display device to acquire a media resource from theat least one media server according to the selected storage path andplay the media resource.
 15. The method according to claim 14, whereinbefore determining, by the control device, the query condition, themethod further comprises identifying, by the control device, at leastone display device and the at least one media server, and identifyingthe central server from the at least one media server.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 14, wherein receiving the query response returned bythe central server, and determining the selected content name as well asthe identifier of the selected display device according to the selectioninstruction specifically comprises: receiving the query response;determining a content name of the at least one media resource accordingto the storage path of the at least one media resource, and displayingthe content name of the at least one media resource and an identifier ofthe at least one display device; and receiving a double selectioninstruction, wherein the double selection instruction comprises theselected content name as well as the identifier of the selected displaydevice, and the selected content name is one of the content name of theat least one media resource.
 17. The method according to claim 14,wherein receiving the query response returned by the central server, anddetermining the selected content name as well as the identifier of theselected display device according to the selection instructionspecifically comprises: receiving a pre-query response returned by thecentral server, wherein the pre-query response comprises the storagepath of the at least one media resource, and the storage path points toone of the at least one media server that comprises the central server;determining the content name of the at least one media resourceaccording to the storage path of the at least one media resource, anddisplaying the content name of the at least one media resource;receiving a first single selection instruction, wherein the first singleselection instruction comprises the selected content name, and theselected content name is one of the content name of the at least onemedia resource; sending a selected request that comprises the selectedcontent name to the central server; and receiving the query responsereturned by the central server, wherein the query response includes thestorage path of the at least one media resource corresponding to theselected content name as well as the identifier of the optional displaydevice, wherein the storage path of the at least one media resourcecomprises the selected content name, and wherein determining, from thestorage path of the at least one media resource, the selected storagepath corresponding to the selected content name as well as theidentifier of the selected display device specifically comprises:receiving a second single selection instruction, wherein the secondsingle selection instruction comprises the identifier of the selecteddisplay device; and determining, from the storage path of the at leastone media resource corresponding to the selected content name, theselected storage path corresponding to the identifier of the selecteddisplay device.
 18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the queryresponse comprises an original resource response entry and a convertedresource response entry, wherein the original resource response entrycomprises an original identifier, a storage path of an original mediaresource, and an identifier of a first display device, and the convertedresource response entry comprises a conversion identifier, a storagepath of a converted media resource, and an identifier of a seconddisplay device, wherein displaying the content name of the at least onemedia resource specifically comprises: determining content namescorresponding to the original resource response entry and thosecorresponding to the converted resource response entry; and determiningat least one resource family response entry, wherein the resource familyresponse entry comprises an original resource response entry and aconverted resource response entry corresponding to a same content name,and displaying a content name of each resource family entry, and whereindetermining, from the storage path of the at least one media resource,the selected storage path corresponding to the selected content name aswell as the identifier of the selected display device specificallycomprises: determining a resource family response entry corresponding tothe selected content name; determining that a storage path in theoriginal resource response entry is the selected storage path when theoriginal resource response entry that comprises the identifier of theselected display device exists in the corresponding resource familyresponse entry; and determining that a storage path in the convertedresource response entry is the selected storage path when the originalresource response entry that comprises the identifier of the selecteddisplay device does not exist in the corresponding resource familyresponse entry, and the converted resource response entry that comprisesthe identifier of the selected display device exists in thecorresponding resource family response entry.
 19. The method accordingto claim 18, wherein displaying the content name of the at least onemedia resource and the identifier of the at least one display devicespecifically comprises binding and displaying the content name of eachresource family response entry and the identifier of the first displaydevice.
 20. A central server, comprising: a first interface configuredto receive a query request of a control device and return a queryresponse to the control device according to a pre-generated resourceinformation table, wherein the query response comprises a storage pathof at least one media resource; a second interface configured to receivea resource request of a selected display device selected by the controldevice, wherein the resource request comprises information about aselected storage path; and a querying module configured to query theresource information table, determine that a selected media resourcecorresponding to the information about the selected storage path isstored on a first media server, and determine a second media server witha conversion capability to convert a media format of the selected mediaresource into a media format supported by a playback capability of theselected display device to enable the selected display device to play amedia resource converted by the second media server from the selectedmedia resource.
 21. The central server according to claim 20, furthercomprising: an acquiring module configured to acquire playbackcapability information of at least one display device that comprises theselected display device, as well as media content information andconversion capability information of a plurality of media servers thatcomprise the central server, the first media server, and the secondmedia server; and a generating module configured to generate theresource information table according to the playback capabilityinformation of the at least one display device as well as the mediacontent information and the conversion capability information of theplurality of media servers, wherein the resource information tablecomprises a resource identifier, a media format, and a storage path ofat least one media resource.
 22. The central server according to claim21, wherein the resource information table comprises an originalresource entry and a converted resource entry, and the generating modulespecifically comprises: an intersection set determining unit configuredto determine a playback capability intersection set according to theplayback capability information of the at least one display device,wherein a playback capability of each display device supports at leastone media format in the playback capability intersection set; anoriginal entry unit configured to determine an original media resourceaccording to the media content information of the plurality of mediaservers and generate the original resource entry, wherein the originalresource entry comprises an original identifier as well as a resourceidentifier, a media format, and a storage path of the original mediaresource, and the storage path of the original media resource points tothe first media server that stores the original media resource; and aconverted entry unit configured to determine, according to a mediaformat that is in the playback capability intersection set and isdifferent from the media format of the original media resource, aconverted media resource corresponding to the original media resource,generate the converted resource entry corresponding to the originalresource entry, wherein the converted resource entry comprises aconversion identifier as well as a resource identifier, a media format,and a storage path of the converted media resource, and the storage pathof the converted media resource points to the central server, andestablish a correspondence between the converted resource entry and amedia server with a conversion capability to convert the media format ofthe original media resource into the media format of the converted mediaresource, wherein the media format of the converted media resource isdifferent from the media format of the corresponding original mediaresource, and the media format of the converted media resource is in theplayback capability intersection set.
 23. The central server accordingto claim 22, wherein the first interface is specifically configured to:query the resource information table according to a query conditioncomprised in the query request; determine an original resource entrythat meets the query condition, and add a corresponding originalresource response entry to the query response, wherein the originalresource response entry comprises the original identifier and thestorage path of the original media resource that are in the originalresource entry; and determine a converted resource entry that meets thequery condition, and add a corresponding converted resource responseentry to the query response, wherein the converted resource responseentry comprises the conversion identifier and the storage path of theconverted media resource that are in the converted resource entry. 24.The central server according to claim 23, wherein the querying module isspecifically configured to: find a converted resource entry thatcomprises the selected storage path according to the information aboutthe selected storage path in the resource request; and determine anoriginal resource entry corresponding to the converted resource entrythat comprises the selected storage path, determine the first mediaserver to which a storage path in the corresponding original resourceentry points, and determine the second media server corresponding to theconverted resource entry that comprises the selected storage path. 25.The central server according to claim 23, wherein the original resourceentry further comprises an identifier of a first display device, whereina playback capability of the first display device supports the mediaformat in the original resource entry, wherein the converted resourceentry further comprises an identifier of a second display device,wherein a playback capability of the second display device supports themedia format in the converted resource entry; and the correspondingoriginal resource response entry further comprises the identifier of thefirst display device in the original resource entry, and wherein thecorresponding converted resource response entry further comprises theidentifier of the second display device in the converted resource entry.26. The central server according to claim 25, wherein the acquiringmodule is further configured to: acquire conversion capabilityinformation of the at least one display device; and determine acomprehensive playback capability of each display device according tothe playback capability information and the conversion capabilityinformation of the at least one display device, and wherein thegenerating module is specifically configured to generate the resourceinformation table according to the playback capability information andthe conversion capability information of the at least one display deviceas well as the media content information and the conversion capabilityinformation of the plurality of media servers, wherein the resourceinformation table comprises the resource identifier, the media format,and the storage path of the at least one media resource and anidentifier of an optional display device, and a comprehensive playbackcapability of the optional display device supports the media format. 27.The central server according to claim 26, wherein the intersection setdetermining unit is specifically configured to determine the playbackcapability intersection set according to the playback capabilityinformation and the conversion capability information of the at leastone display device, wherein the comprehensive playback capability ofeach display device supports at least one media format in the playbackcapability intersection set.
 28. The central server according to claim20, wherein the querying module is further configured to: acquire theselected media resource from the first media server when the centralserver is the second media server, convert the selected media resourceto obtain a selected media resource after conversion, and send theselected media resource after conversion to the selected display media;redirect the resource request to the second media server when thecentral server is not the second media server to enable the second mediaserver to acquire the selected media resource from the first mediaserver, to convert the selected media resource to obtain a selectedmedia resource after conversion, and to send the selected media resourceafter conversion to the selected display device; instruct the secondmedia server to acquire the selected media resource from the first mediaserver when the central server is not the second media server to enablethe second media server to convert the selected media resource andreturn a selected media resource after conversion to the central server;and send the selected media resource after conversion to the selecteddisplay device.
 29. The central server according to claim 28, furthercomprising: a downloading module configured to download the selectedmedia resource after conversion from the second media server when thecentral server is the first media server; a second instructing moduleconfigured to instruct the first media server to download the selectedmedia resource after conversion from the second media server or thecentral server when the central server is not the first media server;and an updating module configured to update the resource informationtable according to the selected media resource after conversion.
 30. Acontrol device, comprising: a determining module configured to determinea query condition and send a query request that comprises the querycondition to a central server; a processing module configured to receivea query response returned by the central server, and determine aselected content name as well as an identifier of a selected displaydevice according to a selection instruction, wherein the query responsecomprises a storage path of at least one media resource and anidentifier of an optional display device, and the storage path points toone of at least one media server that comprises the central server; aselecting module configured to determine, from the storage path of theat least one media resource, a selected storage path corresponding tothe selected content name as well as the identifier of the selecteddisplay device, wherein the selected storage path comprises the selectedcontent name, and send the selected storage path to the selected displaydevice; and a playing module configured to send a playback request tothe selected display device to enable the selected display device toacquire a media resource from the at least one media server according tothe selected storage path and play the media resource.
 31. The controldevice according to claim 30, further comprising an identifying moduleconfigured to identify at least one display device and the at least onemedia server, and identify the central server from the at least onemedia server.
 32. The control device according to claim 30, wherein theprocessing module is specifically configured to: receive the queryresponse; determine a content name of the at least one media resourceaccording to the storage path of the at least one media resource, anddisplay the content name of the at least one media resource and anidentifier of the at least one display device; and receive a doubleselection instruction, wherein the double selection instructioncomprises the selected content name as well as the identifier of theselected display device, and the selected content name is one of thecontent name of the at least one media resource.
 33. The control deviceaccording to claim 30, wherein the processing module is specificallyconfigured to: receive a pre-query response returned by the centralserver, wherein the pre-query response comprises the storage path of theat least one media resource, and the storage path points to one of theat least one media server that comprises the central server; determinethe content name of the at least one media resource according to thestorage path of the at least one media resource, and display the contentname of the at least one media resource; receive a first singleselection instruction, wherein the first single selection instructioncomprises the selected content name, and the selected content name isone of the content name of the at least one media resource; send aselected request that comprises the selected content name to the centralserver; and receive the query response returned by the central server,wherein the query response comprises the storage path of the at leastone media resource corresponding to the selected content name as well asthe identifier of the optional display device, wherein the storage pathof the at least one media resource comprises the selected content name,and wherein the selecting module is specifically configured to: receivea second single selection instruction, wherein the second singleselection instruction comprises the identifier of the selected displaydevice; and determine, from the storage path of the at least one mediaresource corresponding to the selected content name, the selectedstorage path corresponding to the identifier of the selected displaydevice.
 34. The control device according to claim 32, wherein the queryresponse comprises an original resource response entry and a convertedresource response entry, wherein the original resource response entrycomprises an original identifier, a storage path of an original mediaresource, and an identifier of a first display device, and the convertedresource response entry comprises a conversion identifier, a storagepath of a converted media resource, and an identifier of a seconddisplay device, wherein the processing module is specifically configuredto: determine content names corresponding to the original resourceresponse entry and those corresponding to the converted resourceresponse entry; and determine at least one resource family responseentry, wherein the resource family response entry comprises an originalresource response entry and a converted resource response entrycorresponding to a same content name, and display a content name of eachresource family response, and wherein the selecting module isspecifically configured to: determine a resource family response entrycorresponding to the selected content name; determine that a storagepath in the original resource response entry is the selected storagepath when the original resource response entry that comprises theidentifier of the selected display device exists in the correspondingresource family response entry; and determine that a storage path in theconverted resource response entry is the selected storage path when theoriginal resource response entry that comprises the identifier of theselected display device does not exist in the corresponding resourcefamily response entry, and the converted resource response entry thatcomprises the identifier of the selected display device exists in thecorresponding resource family response entry.
 35. The control deviceaccording to claim 34, wherein the processing module is specificallyconfigured to bind and display the content name of each resource familyresponse entry and the identifier of the first display device.